What do Raiders have left to play for in 2018?

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Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) slides while running for yardage against the Los Angeles Chargers in the second quarter of their NFL game at the Coliseum in Oakland, Calif. on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND — Derek Carr sauntered to the podium postgame, visibly drained, sad, lethargic and everything he hasn’t been after losses this season.

Carr is normally upbeat, optimistic, engaging, but that wasn’t the case nearly as often after Sunday’s 20-6 loss to the Chargers that dropped the Raiders to 1-8 and alone with the NFL’s worst record for the time being. He told reporters something had happened that frustrated him, but he wouldn’t say what exactly.

“Deep down, I’m good. I promise. It just kind of bugged me,” he said. “Nothing to do with me and I’m not going to tell you.”

It would be no use to speculate why specifically Carr was upset because we don’t know. It seemed to be something bigger than just losing another game. What we do know, however, is one Raiders veteran walked past three reporters as he left the locker room and said to another veteran, “I gotta get the (expletive) outta here,” before exiting the double doors to the bowels of the Coliseum.

One respected veteran, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, has already retired. One, Bruce Irvin, has been released. Two other franchise cornerstones, Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper, have been traded after Jon Gruden said he’d do the exact opposite. It’s evident not everyone is buying into the reality this will take a while to turn around. In all likelihood, most of the current roster won’t even be here next season. With the Raiders reeling in every way possible, what is there left to play for in a lost season still with seven games remaining?

“Anything where a guy triumphs in something, you win on a play, or you win a game, you celebrate all things. It’s so hard,” Carr said. “This business will test your character. A lot of our guys are finding that out right now. It will test you. It will humble you really quick. I think that when you have little victories like that, you have to celebrate them. You pat the guy on the back and you tell them that you’re proud of them, but you just say we need more.”

Carr said Gruden challenged certain players in meetings this week – he wouldn’t specify who – and they “battled their hearts out” on Sunday. Maybe that group included rookie defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, veteran running back Doug Martin and rookie punter Johnny Townsend, because they were three of the few who weren’t downright awful on Sunday. Those are the types of things players like Carr will say bring them satisfaction amid the flurry of losses. When literal wins aren’t coming, team leaders like Carr will take smaller victories in seeing individual players use coach criticism as fuel to improve despite constant defeat.

“These hard times are going to bring us closer as a team,” second-year starting linebacker Marquel Lee said. “Battling through adversity together is only going to make us stronger and once we get back on top, that notion that we can be a good team, we can be a great team.”

Players are playing for pride, too, because these are men with dignity to maintain, after all. They’re playing for their paychecks and to provide for families, and for prospective future employers who may view their tape this offseason or another time in the future. Then there are rookies and other youngsters who know they’ll more likely be Raiders in 2019 than not, and they’re playing with that long-term process of improving the Raiders in mind unlike other players who assuredly know they won’t be on the roster in a couple months.

“I mean we talk all the time. I talk to Arden (Key) and P.J. (Hall) all the time and every single one of the rookies,” rookie defensive tackle Maurice Hurst said. “(Gruden) brought us in here for a reason, so we’re working to the point of being able to turn everything around. That starts by going game by game and rep by rep, just trying to get better every day.”

Maurice Hurst has been a rare bright spot for the Raiders this season. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Obviously nobody under the Raiders logo will say it, but at this point the most important thing they’re playing for is the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft. No, that doesn’t mean they’re trying to lose despite fans throwing around the word “tanking,” but the shining light in all these losses is that the Raiders could be on the clock come early January instead of some time in late April. They are the only 1-8 team in the NFL for at least a day, and might hold the lone spot at the league’s cellar for longer if the 1-7 Giants beat the 2-7 49ers on Monday night.

But Gruden wouldn’t talk about the future on Sunday. Whether or not he truly means it, he insists he’s focused on the present, even though all his actions indicate otherwise.

“We are just going to keep working hard and practicing, preparing as hard as we can and keep developing the players that are here,” Gruden said. “Hopefully it translates into wins. We have a lot to play for. We have seven weeks to spend with these players. Some of these guys are getting better and better and the future is something we will talk about later. Right now it is hard to lose but we are seeing progress in our young players. Some of these veterans are giving us what they have and I am proud of them.”

Gruden says the Raiders have plenty to play for, but nothing under that umbrella matters for 2018. The draft, the returning youngsters and the select veterans who stay all matter only for 2019 and maybe beyond. Right now all that essentially matters for the remaining seven games is pride and paychecks, and trying not to get embarrassed one week more than you did the last.

Matt Schneidman joined the Bay Area News Group in September 2017 to cover the Oakland Raiders. He graduated from Syracuse University in Spring 2017 and has interned with The Buffalo News, the New York Post and USA TODAY.